I am almost finished my first cedar strip canoe, but I am having trouble installing the gunnels. The canoe is 16’ long and I am using mahagony for the gunnels. I have cut the gunnels to a 3/4" width and 1.25" thickness. My problem is I can not get the strips for the gunnels to bend enough to meet the shape / line of the top of the canoe. No matter how many clamps I try to put on them. Did I make the strips too thick? Or, am I missing something? If I cut the strips down to 1" or even 3/4" thick I am not sure they will bend enough. Someone locally recommended a steam box, but I am not sure that is feasable.
That’s much too thick to bend mahogany. You need to laminate the gunwales from strips that are no more than 3/8" thick across the direction that you are bending. Even then, you might want to use a heat gun to soften the wood.
Twofoot is spot on, split them into strips and laminate them. Keep the slices in order and you won’t be able to see the joint.